Sewing Room Clock

I am in the process of reorganizing my sewing/craft/work, etc. room and one of the things that I wanted to add was a clock. I searched and searched the internet, but didn’t find anything that appealed to me. I wanted a clock that was fun, functional, and sewing room related, so I decided to make one of my own design. In this tutorial, I will share the steps about how to make my clock, so you can also make one of your own. The only real issues that I had were trying to settle on the final design, but I finally got to a design that I was happy with. If you choose to make one of your own, don’t be afraid to use your imagination to get the look and feel of the clock that suits your own personality. So, without further ado, tick tock, let’s make a clock!!!

If you are using your Cricut to cut your wood letters for your phrase, cut them now; otherwise, gather your letters for your phrase together with your other wood embellishments.

Paint your wood embellishments and let them dry.

After your paint is dry, if you want to add some depth and shininess to any of your wood embellishments, use your glaze to paint them. I only used glaze on the top of my buttons and the stand part of my dress form. Set aside to dry.

While you are waiting, cut your fabric for your canvas. Make sure you cut your canvas big enough to wrap around the frame of your canvas. If your fabric has a pattern, make sure you cut accordingly.

Next, center your canvas on the right side of your fabric piece and tape along the edges on the fabric to form a tape frame; making sure your tape is straight along each side.

Then take your embroidery hoop and lay it on your tracing paper. Draw inside the circle with your pencil to make your clock face template. When you have drawn your circle, cut it out.

This part is a bit tricky, so take your time – it took me a couple times to get it right, so do one step at a time, and you shouldn’t have any problems.

Fold your circle in half, then in half again, and then fold your quarter circle into thirds. Crease your seams and unfold your circle. You should have a circle with 12 sections. If you creases are faint, take your pencil and draw a line on the line of each section, so you don’t lose any of the lines.

Take your circle and place it on your fabric inside the tape frame. Position and pin where you want your clock face to be situated. Pin each pin where you want your numbers.

Set your charms aside on your cardboard in the same order as you are going to sew them.

Get out your embroidery hoop and enclose your pinned paper and fabric within the hoop. Then, thread your needle and hand sew your charms in their respective spots on the inside of your hoop.

Next, take your fabric piece and lay centered right side up on your canvas, using your tape as a guide, making sure that your clock face is where you want it.

Now, turn your fabric with the canvas over, so you are looking at the backside of the canvas, then fold your fabric edges over to enclose the frame of your canvas and staple the fabric to the frame, making sure that your fabric is taught and even. When you come to the corners, fold them in like you would when wrapping a present. Remove your tape as you make your folds. *Tip: Pin your fabric to the canvas as you fold, and then go back over with the staple gun. Remember to take out the pins when you are done. If you have any staples that didn’t go in all the way, use your hammer to hammer them in, so that they are flush with your canvas frame.

Turn your clock over, so that it is face up, take out the center pin, and mark the center of your clock with a fabric pen.

Now it is time to get out the cardboard. Measure and cut your cardboard to fit in the back of your frame where your clock face is. You need a piece of card board that will back the entire clock face for stability.

Insert your cardboard piece into the back of your frame behind your clock face and take your Exacto knife and drill a hole through the cardboard, canvas, and fabric that is big enough for your clock mechanism to fit through. Start out small – you can always make it bigger.

Follow the instructions that came with your clock mechanism to put the mechanism together.

You are almost done!!!

Now for the fun part – now is the time to affix your embellishments to the front of your clock. I used Aleene’s Fabric Fusion to attach mine.

When you have completed this step and the glue is dry, you have completed your clock. Just insert the battery and hang. Make sure to show it off to your friends and family – they will probably want you to either help them make one for them or want you to make it for them, so have fun, get your creative juices flowing and make yourself and others’ a clock, and remember; everyone needs a clock!!!

Really good post. I just came on your blog and wanted to say i always have really really liked reading your blog posts. Anyway I am going to be subscribing to your feed and I really hope you post again soon.